Subpoena threat by lawmakers surprises Oracle

Oracle Corp. officials have expressed shock at a subpoena threat from the California Legislature in connection with a hearing this month on a controversial $95 million software license the company negotiated with the state.

A senior Oracle officer protested a plan by assemblyman Dean Florez, chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, to subpoena five Oracle employees if they failed to voluntarily testify tomorrow at a committee hearing.

Oracle vice president Kenneth Glueck told Florez that officials were 'stunned by the threat of subpoenas to a company that has voluntarily complied with every request you have made.' Oracle had notified the committee that it wanted to send senior public-sector executive Kevin Fitzgerald instead of the five sales representatives the committee requested. In the end, Oracle agreed to let the five employees testify.

Several California officials testified at a hearing last month, including CIO Elias Cortez and Arun Baheti, the state's director of e-government, who resigned last month. Gov. Gray Davis has suspended Cortez until further notice.

In his testimony, Cortez said he was 'being held accountable for other people's mistakes.'